Actor Billy Crystal led an emotional tribute on the 98th Academy Awards Sunday night time to his longtime good friend, director and actor Rob Reiner, and his spouse, Michele Singer Reiner.
“Their loss is immeasurable,” Crystal mentioned of the couple, who have been found useless inside their Los Angeles house on Dec. 14, 2025.
Crystal, who collaborated with Reiner on a number of tasks, recalled Reiner’s great films, from “When Harry Met Sally” to “Spinal Faucet,” and the loving and impactful relationship he had with Michele.
Michael McKean, Christopher Visitor, Jerry O’Connell, Wil Wheaton, Fred Savage, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Kathy Bates, Annette Bening, John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga communicate on the 98th Academy Awards, March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, Calif.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP through Getty Photographs
The couple married in 1989 and had three kids: Jake, Nick and Romy.
Shortly after the Reiners’ loss of life, their son Nick Reiner, 32, was arrested for homicide and charged with two counts of first-degree homicide with the particular circumstance of a number of murders. He pleaded not responsible to homicide prices in February.
Crystal didn’t point out the circumstances of their deaths in his Oscars tribute, as a substitute selecting to give attention to the affect the couple left within the worlds of filmmaking and social justice.
After his remarks, Crystal was joined onstage on the Dolby Theatre by multiple dozen of Rob Reiner’s previous collaborators, together with actresses Meg Ryan, Demi Moore, Annette Bening and Kathy Bates and actors Kiefer Sutherland, Mandy Patinkin, Fred Savage and Jerry O’Connell.

Michael McKean, Christopher Visitor, Jerry O’Connell, Wil Wheaton, Fred Savage, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Kathy Bates, Annette Bening, John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga communicate on the 98th Academy Awards, March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, Calif.
Kevin Winter/Getty Photographs
The Oscars In Memoriam phase went on to acknowledge extra stars who died over the previous 12 months, together with a tribute from actress Rachel McAdams to actresses Diane Keaton and Catherine O’Hara, each of whom died prior to now six months.
Later, singing legend Barbra Streisand made a shock look to honor the late Robert Redford, with whom she starred in “The Manner We Had been.”

Barbra Streisand speaks concerning the late Robert Redford as she is proven on display screen with him throughout the In Memoriam phase on the 98th Academy Awards, March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, Calif.
Mike Blake/Reuters
After paying tribute to Redford, who died in September, Streisand sang just a few notes from “The Manner We Had been.”
